Which of the following is MOST effective in preventing the introduction of vulnerabilities that may disrupt the availability of a critical business application?

A patch management process addresses existing vulnerabilities but doesn't prevent the introduction of new ones through uncontrolled changes.

Change management controls are designed to ensure that all changes to an IT environment, including applications, infrastructure, and configurations, are systematically planned, reviewed, tested, and approved before implementation. This structured process significantly reduces the likelihood of introducing vulnerabilities or misconfigurations that could lead to outages and disrupt the availability of critical business applications.

Version control tracks changes to code and documents but doesn't inherently prevent the introduction of vulnerabilities or misconfigurations into a live production environment without broader change management.

Logical access controls prevent unauthorized access, which is crucial for confidentiality and integrity, but less directly for preventing new vulnerabilities that disrupt availability from being introduced by authorized but faulty changes.